CHAPTER ivThe Research Student and the Department
a. Opportunities for Contact
Although much literary research is solitary and it is easy for graduate students to feel isolated, nevertheless they are an important part of the academic community and are encouraged to participate actively in the life of the Department. The various opportunities offered by the Department for participatory work include:
(a)contributions to and support of the Graduate Seminars and Conferences in the four Research Schools, which are designed to put students and staff in touch with one another and visiting speakers;
(b)registration for MA modules, particularly in the first year of registration; consult your supervisor in the first instance;
(c)formal part-time teaching of undergraduates as described in Chapter V below.
B. research Training
The University and the Department are both committed to training postgraduate students andproviding them with the skills that they need to negotiate their education, the job market andtheir careers.
The Department runs a Graduate Training Programme (GTP), comprising a series of weekly sessions held throughout the academic year. Individual sessions in the GTP are aimed at MA students, PhD students or both, but all are welcome to attend all sessions as they see fit.
The GTP is planned so that students taking different degrees and at different stages of their work may take advantage of particular sessions. The topics covered may include the use of the University Library and other libraries in the region, on-line research resources, research writing, the MA dissertation, the PhD thesis, applying for a PhD, conference presentations, writing for publication, and applying for an academic post.
The GTP will be available via the Department’s website at the start of each term. The Department also publishes an onlineguide to doing research in literary fieldswhich should be consulted by all research students.
The definition of training also extends to attending the Department’s many research eventsand conferences. The Department’s Annual Postgraduate Student Conference, held in week 5 of the summer term every year, provides postgraduate students with an important opportunity for presenting their research in a rich, collaborative interdisciplinary environment.
Students should also be aware of events organised by the Humanities Research Centre, which fosters a variegated research environment for all Arts and Humanities students at the University.
The University’s Researcher Development Team (RDT) runs training sessions for research students. This includes two mandatory induction sessions for all incoming research students. Students are also advised to make use of Skills Forge, a web-based software package designed to enable users to sign up for a wide range of courses offered by the RDT.
It is for the supervisor and postgraduate to decide what training is appropriate given the postgraduate's experience on beginning their PhD. Every PhD student must complete a Professional Development Plan (PDP), in consultation with the RDT, their supervisor(s) and their TAP members.
Discussion of the PDP is an integral part of every student’s training and a required part of the procedure of TAP meetings. At the end of their degree, every PhD student must provide a statement of 500 words reflecting on the training that they have received over the course of their degree.
C. Supervisor and Supervisee
The importance of regular contact between supervisor and student cannot be overemphasised. The responsibility for maintaining such contact is shared equally between them. University regulations state that students must meet their supervisors at least twice a term and require that a written record is kept of all supervisory meetings. The Department recommends the use of the form available online at for any meetings which are not TAP meetings. Completed forms should be given to the Graduate Studies Administrator to be placed on the student file. The nature and frequency of these meetings will vary according to each research phase.
Early phase: Meetings between supervisor and student are likely to be frequent and take the form of discussions which may be based on preliminary written work. Each student will have an advisory panel in addition to their supervisor (see Chapter III.D. above) and it is advisable for the student to establish contact with the other member of staff on this panel early on. The supervisor will be concerned with helping to establish exactly what the student wants to do, to make sure that the topic is viable, and ensure that the project is sufficiently specific and limited to be performable within the period of time allowed. It is important that from the very beginning the project should be planned realistically and thoroughly.
Middle phase: Meetings should take the form of the regular reception of and prompt commentary on written work. (Nothing discourages research more than a procrastinating supervisor.) At this stage the student should make substantial progress in the organizing of his or her thoughts and the overall planning of the dissertation. The supervisor will be on the lookout for impediments to steady progress, such as deviations from the main line of argument or reluctance to sacrifice unprofitable results. The supervisor will encourage the student to make public presentations of his or her work (for example, in papers to the Research Seminars within the relevant School) and advise on preparation for the upgrading meeting (see Chapter III.C.).
Final phase: Meetings with the supervisor will take the form of detailed commentary on the formulation and presentation of the penultimate version of the thesis. The student’s advisory panel will discuss the progress of the thesis and review the timetable for completion. Technical advice on the scholarly presentation of the dissertation (see Chapter VII) and on preparations for the viva should be offered.
The supervisor should encourage the student to consult other members of staff, or specialists in other universities. The Department may arrange shared supervision, when it is of advantage to the student.
It is the responsibility of students who have not completed by the end of the full registration period to keep in regular contact with their supervisors.
Staff on research leave, whether in York or elsewhere, are still fully responsible for their supervisees, ie as regards formal meetings, other contact and in their pastoral role; they should set out details of contact arrangements in advance and outline how/when they will be available.
The Department will make every effort to provide alternative supervision should a supervisor leave or fall ill; the Graduate Chair will as soon as practicable inform research students formally in writing or by email if their supervisor resigns, with information on arrangements for continued supervision.
D. Student Evaluation of Supervision
During the twice-yearly Thesis Advisory Panel meetings research students comment directly to the TAP Member, in the absence of their supervisor, on the nature and level of the supervision they have received, and on the success of their relations to the Graduate School/Department. The TAP member writes up the results of this evaluation on the TAP form, which is handed to the Graduate Studies Administrator. NB Such reports are quite separate from the complaints procedure outlined in Chapter IX.
In the event of unsatisfactory relations between supervisor and student, both have the right, of which they are advised to avail themselves early rather than late, to consult the Graduate Chair, in the first instance, or if the Chair happens to be the supervisor, the Head of Department.
1